EO 14088, one of the first Executive Orders signed during the Biden Administration, has been hailed as “a mini Green New Deal” in effect. It has several disparate provisions aimed at climate and climate justice efforts through the federal government:
- In targeting clean electricity and federal vehicle fleets, the order calls on federal agencies to use “all available procurement authorities to achieve or facilitate: i) a carbon pollution-free electricity sector no later than 2035; and (ii) clean and zero-emission vehicles for federal, state, local, and tribal government fleets, including vehicles of the United States Postal Service.” At 650,000 vehicles, the federal vehicle fleet is approximately 50% of the total electric vehicle fleet across the country at the time of signing (~1.4M).
- The order calls for the establishment of a Civilian Climate Corps that will create jobs “to conserve and restore public lands and waters, bolster community resilience, increase reforestation, increase carbon sequestration in the agricultural sector, protect biodiversity, improve access to recreation, and address the changing climate.”
- In addressing frontline communities, the order outlines the administration’s policy “to secure environmental justice and spur economic opportunity for disadvantaged communities that have been historically marginalized and overburdened by pollution and underinvestment in housing, transportation, water and wastewater infrastructure, and health care.” It also establishes the Justice40 Initiative to recommend how federal investments can be made in a way that directs 40% of benefits to disadvantaged communities.
- In addressing HFC emissions, the Order calls on the State Department to prepare to submit to the Senate the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol.
- The executive order directs the Department of the Interior to halt issuing new leases for oil and gas on federal lands and offshore waters to the extent possible, to review the department’s permitting and leasing practices for fossil fuels, and to identify steps to double energy production from offshore wind by the end of the decade. The executive order establishes a goal of conserving at least 30 percent of federal lands and waters by 2030, and calls on the National Climate Task Force to prepare a report within 90 days, working in conjunction with farmers, fisherman, and local and tribal government officials, on how to achieve this goal.
- The executive order calls on the Office of Management and Budget to seek to eliminate subsidies for the fossil fuel industry beginning with the FY 2022 budget request.